Shaker Aamer release from Guantanamo. Stop the War Statement 30.1015

The Stop the War Coalition is delighted at the news that Shaker Aamer is on his way home.

We have supported the campaign for his release for many years, and would like to pay tribute to those who have helped secure his release by their lobbying and campaigning.

Our former chair, Jeremy Corbyn, now leader of the Labour Party, has been at the forefront of this campaign, taking part in a cross-party delegation of MPs that went to Washington in May 2015 to press for Shaker Aamer's release..

Shaker Aamer's imprisonment has done great harm to him and his family, and should be condemned. He has never been tried and has had to suffer imprisonment for over a decade. We wish him and all those close to him well in adjusting to life back in London.

We call on Gauntanamo Bay detention centre to be closed -- a promise made by Barack Obama in 2009, when he became US president, but which was never kept.

As a result of the 'war on terror', levels of detention without trial have escalated, civil liberties have been undermined, and the Muslim community has been under increased attack.

These restrictions on civil liberties, as well as the use of rendition and torture, have contributed to an attack on democracy unprecedented in modern times.